4 Months of To-Do Lists....EEK! Sort of Long

I just noticed that I have neglected to post my monthly TO-DO List outcomes for the last FOUR  MONTHS!

Geez....how did THAT happen!!
Well that's easy to explain actually...well at least some of it.
Right before September List was suppose to be written I had an emergency gall bladder surgery.
Then in early November after I recovered other stuff was going on and I didn't get October's list done.
Early December and well, the Holidays, enough said so there went November's list. lolz
It's time for December's list(well I am kind of late in January with that one)and I am trying to get back on track.

So let's combine the lists from September to December and try to briefly as possible go through them all.

The item I always have at the top of the Month is "Pay Bills" and that's always accomplished so I am leaving that one off since y'all know it was done each month.

FOUR MONTH OF TO-DO LISTS

*  Read Books-Here's what I read the last 4 months--I really fell down on this goal the last quarter of 2020.

In September I read--

"Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin" by Jill Lepore

I got this one at Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)and now I know WHY it was there.  The book was fine if a little thin because of the subject matter.  Written by a Harvard professor(la de da!)it was basically a biography of Jane Franklin, the younger sister of Benjamin Franklin.  It was interesting but so little information jhas survived the last 200 years concerning Jane's life that there wasn't much to work with here.  The author expanded by including a lot of information on Ben Franklin and their "close" relationship as brother and sister.  Funny thing is that when Benjamin Franklin wrote his memoirs he never mentioned Jane at all.  Hmmm.is that telling as to Ben's sense of self-importance or that he though no one reading his memoirs down the ages would be interested in what his sister, being a mere woman, thought of the world or her life?  You be the judge.

The odd thing that really distracted from my enjoyment of this book was this....

On random pages at random places in the story, there was no print on the page!

Then I'd turn the page and the book was fine....

And then a few pages further there's be more blank pages!  This kept happening aboout the 1/3 of the book and man, was it ever aggravating!  I persevered however and eventually the misprints stopped and I was still able to follow the thread of the book.  I hate to say it but I threw that book in the trash(the only reason I'd EVER throw a book out)when I was done though I would liked to have had this one remain in my book collection. 8-(

In November I read--

"Ostend: Stefan Zweig, Joseph Roth and the Summer Before the Dark" by Volker Weidermann

I did a little background reading on these two German authors before attempting this book because I know so few German writers(other than Goethe and Thomas Mann).  This was an interesting read as it explored the time right before Hitler came to full power and the troubles that some German authors who "weren't on board" with the Nazi agenda had....the political upheaval in their lives and families, the publishers who were forbidden from printing these writer's works, their emotional, mental and physical struggles to survive from this loss of income and some in their circle of friends being unable to return to German for fear of the consequences if they had gone abroad.  Ostend is a tiny seaside town in Belgium that was a favorite of a certain circle of German friends and writers and this book retells of their last Summer of glory at the sea before the Darkness fell over Europe.  Full of sadness and melancholy but a moving story.

I know I read more than TWO books the last 4 months but I didn't keep them(donated those books as they were "meh").  Perhaps I didn't finish a book in October due to surgery/not feeling up to reading much/or the short trip that month.  These other tomes must not have been very memorable as I can't recall any of them.  I did start two other books but have yet to finish them, but when I do, I'll report in. ;-)

* Hold Giveaways  DONE  Luckily I had Giveaway Boxes pre-filled and ready to go for the reat of the year by September or I may not have had anything to giveaway in October and maybe in November.  

Here's what was given away...5 boxes of goodies in total . 

September

October

November #1

November #2

December

*  Mail Giveaways  DONE  Everything was mailed out promptly.

*  Change out Wardrobe  I wanted to get this done in October after out short trip to MD(as it would still be warm down there).  Then we had a spell of warm for the season weather in November so I waited until early December to change out my clothing for the Winter season.  It just didn't make sense to do this chore earlier this year.  Blame it on being 2020....that works for me! lol

*  Dentist Appointment  Had my Dentist appointment for a cleaning in September.  No x-rays or new cavities so it was free.  This was my only Dentist appointment for the year as the Dentist was closed until August.  I hate that we paid for dental insurance that was suppose to pay for 2 6 month cleanings but only got to get 1.  I think we are due a partial refund on those premiums.  Of course if we had had a dental emergency I think the dentist would have seen us so I guess I am not too upset over being charge for a whole year of service. ;-)

*  Doctor Appointments  Oh boy, did we EVER have LOTS of Doctor appointments during this time due to the surgery!  A regular checkup in September then an ER visit, a surgery and a whole slew on appointments(4 in total)coming off the surgery situation plus 2 regular appointments with specialists I see.  We are all systems go by this point! 8-)

*  Stuff to Salvation Army  I believe we made three trips to Sallie's over the course of 4 months.  Of course the months I planned this to happen, it didn't.  Should have been 2 trips but Hubs forgot some things he shoved in his car's trunk and had to make a quick trip back later in Deecember.  We got rid of about 3 boxes of items we don't need/don't use.  The point is that the chore did get taken care of but it took longer than expected.

*  Go through bags of Clothing Ex-CB left  This one happened in September.   A few items I pulled out that were new with tags went back to Kohl's after Christmas and I got store credit.  A few other items I put aside to sell on eBay(Levi's mostly).  Everything else went into the Sallie's donation box which didn't leave when planned(see item above)but it was all donated before 2020 was over.

*  Continue to Deal w/VA stuff  DONE  This item has continued to drag on and on.  Partly due to the lawyer we were using and partly due to issues my brother has letting go of things.  I can't go into this further but once this pandemic let's us travel again I hope to make some headway as there is stuff I had to be in VA to do in person.

*  Work on Details of Winter Trip  This Winter Trip ultimately was put on hold until 2022.  I'd love to go sooner but traveling for now is on hold and IF things open up by August/September I don't think I want to be in the American Southwest during that time of year so we'll hold off until Winter 2022 on that particular trip.  I'd like to go to LA to see my daughter as we haven't seen her in a year now, since the wedding.

*  Move $-matured CD  We had a CD mature in September.  Looking around at the current rates at that time our best move was to just roll it over where it was sitting into a new CD.

*  Cash in 3 Savings Bonds  DONE  Three Savings Bonds matured so we cashed them in during September.

*  Take 401K Withdrawal  DONE  We also took a small 401K withdrawal in September to cover 1 of 3 irregular bills that came due-Long Term Care premiums, yearly School Taxes and Legal Fees concerning my VA issue.  The withdrawal was just to cover the school taxes.

OCTOBER saw these items added........

*  List Things on eBay FAIL  I don't feel so bad about this item on the list.  It stayed on the To-Do  List until December but I never did get around to listing anything on eBay.  Looking back at the clusterf**k the mail was last Fall I am GLAD I never put anything up on eBay to sell!  I found out yesterday that one of my Christmas Cards I sent out for Anne's Card swap arrived on 1/25!  44 days to  go barely 170 miles to MD via mail.  Heck I got a card from someone in Canada well before Xmas!  I am so glad to fail this year listing on eBay. lolz

*  Make More Masks  DONE  Part were done in Oct. and part in Nov.  I've got 5 more masks finished.  I hope to not have to make more but we'll see. 

*  Go on Trip  DONE  We had scheduled a quick trip to the beach and I was healed up well enough to still go mid to late October.  We researched and kept an eye on infection rates in the area and how the hotel was handling protocols(no housekeeping service unless you requested it so we didn't, sanitation stations all over the hotel and I stayed out of the pool).  Mostly we did outdoor activities away from other people and ate in the room or in almost vacant restaurants.  There was one outing to the outlets to two stores and they were only allowing X number of folks inside at a time.  We didn't pick up any infections and I really needed to get away for my mental health.

*  Stuff to Food Bank  FAIL  This didn't happen in October.

*  Invest Savings Bond $$  FAIL  Another one that didn't happen in October.

NOVEMBER saw these items added......

* Have Company  DONE  The only company we had at Thanksgiving was Ex-College Boy and his roommate(whom we call #3 Son).  They are in our 'bubble'.  It was a small enjoyable gathering and we sent them both home with lots of food.  I did make too many pumpkin pies but we thought Older son and his GF would be here but due to job restrictions they were unable to travel out of state.

* Plan & Cook for Turkey Day  DONE  We had only 4 people for dinner so other than the pie situation a lot less food was prepared and it was still plenty to too much.  Lots of leftovers were eaten the rest of November.

* Roll/Spend ECBs  DONE  I had something like $30+ in ECBs and I did get to CVS and roll/spend them down a bit during the Black Friday weekend.

* Roll/Spend Bonus Cash  DONE  Ditto for the Black Friday deals at Rite-Aid.

These are just some of what was hauled home from Rite-Aid on Black Friday Weekend.

* Drag Out Xmas Gifts  DONE  Gifts I've been collecting throughout the year were stored away until November in the Guest Room/Toiletries Stockpile Room closet.  Two tubs worth by Christmas and I wrote out a list as I went through them with whom got what and noted any "holes" in gifting that still needed to be filled.

* Get Kids' Xmas Lists  DONE  You'd think I was asking them to give me the contents of their ban accounts instead of a list of what they want me to GIVE them! lolz

* Stuff to Food Bank  FAIL  Another month I didn't get this done due to not being able to contact the person at the Church were they collect/give out the food.  I just kept trying to connect with the person and it wasn't happening.

* Invest Savings Bond $$  DONE  Finally got this money transfer to a higher interest bearing account in late November.  It was only just over $2K but hey!, money is money and better it be in there than sitting not earning anything. ;-)

DECEMBER saw these items added to the To-Do List...

* Have Company? DONE  While Older son and GF couldn't come for Christmas(again GF's work restrictions)we did have Ex-CB, #3 Son and the Brother in-law and Nephew over.  It's was a good day overall.

* Plan & Cook for Christmas  DONE  I got everything done and on time.  I cooked ahead a few things so I wasn't so rushed and tired on Xmas.  We had everyone over for dinner later than usual so we had some time to relax with the dogs in the morning and not stress about getting stuff ready for company.

* Make a few Christmas Treats  DONE  Gosh help us, NO pumpkin pies this holiday. lol

I made 2 pecan pies(1 to take to Older son as it's his most fav), peanut butter cookies(Ex-CB's fav)and Mexican wedding cookies.  I also bought a small peppermint chocolate cheesecake at the discount grocer for cheap(which nobody really liked lol).

* Roll/Spend ECBs  DONE I stayed on top of my CVS game(what little game I had lol).

* Roll/Spend Bonus Cash  DONE  Roll/Spend Down massive amounts of BC at Rite-Aid happened in December too.

* Finish Christmas Shopping  DONE  There wasn't much to buy after I hauled home my Black Friday drugstore loot. lol  Just a gift card or two.

* Wrap Christmas Gifts  DONE  Some got wrapped at the last minute(as is always the case)but they all got wrapped and the ones for my R-A pals got delivered Xmas eve as well as 3 Pizzas.

Here's an out of focus photo of our little tree with gifts wrapped underneath for family that was coming for Christmas.

Hubs and I ended up driving to Jersey the weekend after Xmas to visit with Older son and his GF for the day and took their presents to them then.  I figured if I had also mailed their packages they might still be waiting for them to arrive given the terrible mail situation in December. lol

* Mail Christmas Packages  DONE  I mailed out 6 packages but whether they arrived before Xmas was another matter not in my hands. lolz  Most of them ended up traveling through the "7th Circle of Postal Hell" aka as the Philly Mail Distribution Hub so I am grateful everything got to it's destination eventually.

* Stuff to Food Bank  DONE  I finally got all the donations up to the Food Bank.  I also made a large donation to the local AmLegion Hall for their overseas troops care packages.  It's no fun to be away from home especially at the Holidays.

* Collapse  DONE  More of a partial collapse really.  Glad all the hullabaloo was over and we had nothing on the agenda between Xmas and the New Year.  Hubs and I just relaxed and didn't worry about getting much done going into 2021.

So now I and y'all are all caught up with my To-Do Lists.

rah.

I don't have to worry about doing one now for another 4 Days! lolz

Sluggy